I am not impressed with Marvel’s Secret Invasion. The best way to describe it so far is to say that it is Marvel’s version of Andor. A whole bunch of people doing bad things to each other with no heroes involved. And the heroes taking part in the story are either deconstructed or killed outright. It wallows in the grimdark and betrayal while avoiding the heroism and hope. I feel depressed after watching it. I look at the two hours I spent watching the two episodes, and I want my time back so I could have done more enjoyable and productive things. It may get better in the future, but right now I cannot recommend it.
I went up north over the weekend to see Mom’s grave for the first time since I buried her ashes last fall. I saw her gravestone for the first time with my own eyes, and I visited my grandparents, my great uncles and their wives, and my uncle. All of them lying within a baseball diamond of each other. The older generations going back to those who came over on the boats are on the other side of the graveyard, nearly a football away. It’s a beautiful country graveyard across the road from the church where my family grew up in, were baptized in, and served as church officials. It’s surrounded by fields, trees, and storm clouds rolling in on the day I went. It’s a good place to rest in peace.
The Cybernetic Council did not have the same rules as the United States Armed Forces when they went to War. American military cybers were not allowed to have robotic avatars, but the Cybernetic Council did not fight as part of America’s military. They came as allies, and they armed themselves. They came with full robotic avatars, and they came to fight. My Privateer’s crew was fully robotic, so they could work in and outside the ship. And the Marines had robotic bodies too, so they could fight with me when the time came. And if you think a company of American Marines is deadly in a fight, let me tell you that a company of Cybernetic Council Marines will rock your world. Literally.
The Privateers the Cybernetic Council sent to support us Cowboys came with full cybernetic crews. We Cowboys were going to have a unique role in the Hyades, and the cybers made certain we could stay in the field for months on end without resupply or reinforcements. When Dixie delivered my Privateer to me she came with a crew entirely made up of the AIs I had helped to build and bring to life. Many of them were fully sentient by then. Some were still bouncing off the edges of it. Even Red came. It was a rather emotional moment for me. My old life and my new life intersecting in a way I never expected. It changed everything.
It was in the Hyades Cluster that everything changed. We’d spent months building up the fleets at Serenity. Building up the Cowboys. Integrating new ones. Retraining old ones. Total brush up to deal with what we were going to see when we broke into the Hyades. That was when those old AIs changed everything again. They had volunteered to fight the Shang as well, you see. And when the Cybernetic Council started showing up at Serenity with Privateers to support the Cowboys, my ship had some unique volunteers. I had built them up to be Big Damn Heroes, doncha know? Talk about my actions having consequences. That was one consequence I never saw coming.
Forge of War on Amazon
Angel Flight on Amazon
Angel Strike on Amazon
Angel War on Amazon
Wolfenheim Rising on Amazon
Wolfenheim Emergent on Amazon